Locomotive-engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets Sheet 1.

J. HOWE, Jr. Locomotive Engine.

No. 233,349. Patented Oct. 19,1880.

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I. PETERS. PHOTO-LITNOGRIPKER, WASHINGTON, D. C.

(Ho Model.) 2 Sheet-s-Sheet 2.

J. HOWE, Jr. Locomotive Engine.

No. 233,349. Patented Oct. 19, 1880.

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N.PETERS, PHOTOiITHDGflAPHER, WASHINGTON n O- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HOWE, JR, OF EAST BOSTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO ALMER B. JERNEGAN, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOCOMOTlVE-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,349, dated October 19, 1880.

Application filed August 30, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN Howe, J r., a citizen of the United States of America, residing at East Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railways and Locomotives, of which the following specification is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the drawings accompanying this specification and illustrating my invention.

This invention relates to means for enabling railway locomotives and trains to ascend grades when the power of the locomotive, as ordinarily applied, is insufiicient to overcome the grade, ordoes so only after considerable difficulty and loss of time. It contemplates the employment of a toothed power-driven wheel on the locomotive engaging a correspondingly-toothed rail on the road-bed, said wheel being arranged to be lifted and lowered out of and 'into engagement with the rack; and it consists in combining with said instrumentalities and the lever for lifting and lowering the said wheel mechanism operated by said lever, according to the direction of its movement, to throw into and out of action the de-- vices by which the toothed wheel is rotated.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, a plan, in Fig.2 a front elevation, in Fig. 3 a vertical cross-section, in Fig. 4 a longitudinal and vertical section, and in Fig. 5 a side elevation, of a device embodying myinvention. v

In these drawings I have not represented a locomotive-engine wherewith to illustrate my invention, but a carriage or frame mounted upon wheels and containing the axles and wheels of a locomotive and the operative mechanism embodying my improvements.

A A represent the rails, and B B the ties, of a railway-track. 0 represents a toothed rail, which is laid upon the ties parallel with the track, and either between the rails or outside of one of them, (between them in the present instance,) this rail or bar being strong and durablein construction and securely bolted to the ties.

The teeth a a, &c., of the rail Oare arranged at right angles to its longest plane and to the track, and may be in form ratchet-teeth, ordinary gear-teeth, or of any other shape which experience or circumstances may dictate. In the present instance the teeth a a are ratchetteeth, inclined in the directionthe locomotive is to travel, in order that the front sides of these teeth may be vertical, or practically so, to offer the most resistance to the teeth of the wheel that operates with them and prevent slipping of such wheel upon the rail.

D represents an open frame or carriage, mounted upon axles E F, which carry wheels G G and H H, adapted to traverse the rails A A, and the frame D may be supposed to represent a portion of a railway-locomotive, while the wheels G Gr and axle E may be the driving axle and wheels of the same.

I in the drawings represents a circular upright wheel, arranged in the present instance between the two pairs of wheels, and with its periphery converted into teeth to correspond to those of the rack O, with which they are adapted to engage in a manner to aid, when the wheel revolves, in propelling the carriage D. To impart motion to the wheel I, I mount its shaft a in the rear end of a forked arm or bar, I), the rear end of such bar inclosing the driving-axle E, and I mount loosely upon the said axle a sprocket-wheel, 0, about which and a second sprocket-wheel, d, secured to one side of the toothed wheel I, I pass a chain, c, the links of which engage the teeth of the wheels in the usual manner.

If the driving-axle is put in rotation when the teeth of the wheel I are in engagement with those of the rack, it follows that the power applied to the said axle will be to a great extent transmitted to the wheel I to put the latter in rotation, and, as it cannot slip upon the rack, it follows that the power applied to the wheel is directly exerted, with a positive motion, to aid in propelling the carriage upon the rails.

To enable the wheel I to be lowered into engagement with the rack or raised above the same, I mount the arm bin such manner upon the axle E as to permit it to turn upon the latter, and I effect the raising of the free end of the arm and the wheel by means of a horizontal lever. J, fulcrumed to the upper part of the carriage D, as shown atf, the rear end of this lever being connected by a. link, 9, to the rear end of the arm, while the front end or handle of such lever extends forward to the front part of the carriage, or through an upright standard, h, erected upon the latter. The weight of the wheel and its support is sufficient to lower the former into contact with the rack C, while to hold the wheel in its elevated position I add to the rear side of the standard h a bell-crank lever, a, which is pivoted at its bend to such standard, the lower and vertical arm, j, of this lever operating to depress the handle of the lever J by resting at its lower end upon such handle, and, as a consequence, to elevate the free end of the arm b and the wheel I and hold them in their highest position.

The upper and horizontal arm, k, of the lever i is weighted, and the lower end of the arm j is formed with a lip, a, to bear against the side of the handle of the lever J, the weight of the upper arm of the leverz' being sufficient to maintain the lip in contact with such handle. A horizontal lever, l, is pivoted at or near its center to the upper part of the standard h, the base of this lever being connected with the end of the weighted arm of the lever t by a link, m. By depressing the handle of the lever l and raising the upper arm of the lever 11 its lower arm is disengaged from the handle of the lever J and the wheel I drops into engagement with the rack C. When the wheel 1 is to be raised the handle of the lever J is lowered until the lower end of the lever o engages it.

I have described the swinging arm b and levers J, t, and l as one means of raising and lowering the wheel I but I do not confine myself to these devices, as various other means of accomplishing the same result will readily manifest themselves to good mechanics.

To impart rotary motion to the wheel I at the same time and by the same action that lowers such wheel, I affix to the axle E a-semiclutch, n, and I add to the adjacent side of the wheel 0 a like semi-clutch, 0, to operate with the firstnamed clutch n. Furthermore, to throw the two clutches into engagement by shagging the wheel 0 upon the axle, I add to the opposite side of such wheel a peripherallygrooved hub, 10, and into this groove I extend the forked end of a vibrating shipper-bar, q, which is pivoted at its upper end to the upper fi'ontpart of the standard h, and to operate this shipper-bar I connect its lower end, by a link, 1*, with the extremity of the lower arm, 8, of a second bell-crank lever, t, which is pivoted at its bend to the front part of the standard and to one side of the shipper q, as shown at u, the end of the arm s being most remote from the shipper, and the upper vertical arm, *0, of the lever t being slotted, as shown at w, and straddling the handle of the lifting-lever J.

As the handle of the lever J rises in the act of releasing the wheel I and permitting it to drop upon the rack G, such handle wipes against one side of the slot of the arm u of the lever t and pushes such arm to one side, the result being that its lower arm is raised and the lower extremity of the shipper-bar pushed inward, by which act the wheel 0 is pushed in a like direction upon the axle E and the two halves of the clutch thrown into engagement. The wheel a is now put into revolution by the axle E, and in turn imparts revolution to the wheel I by the chain c.

The periphery of the wheel I should travel upon the rack (J at about the same rate of speed as the wheels G G of the carriage upon the rails of the track. In the present instance the diameter of such wheel I is less than that of the wheels G; but the diameter of the sprocket-wheel c is enough larger than that of the sprocket-wheel d to compensate for the difi'erence in diameter of the wheels I and G.

It is evident that various devices may be employed for putting the wheel 1 into motion simultaneous with its deseen-tu-pon the toothed rack, and I have shown the sprocket-wheels and chain, the lovers q and t, operated by the lever J, and the clutch 0 upon the loose wheel 0, operating with the clutch n on the axle, only to show one means of accomplishing the result sought.

My invention is applicable to starting a locomotive and train upon any portion of a railway-track--say at stations or other stoppingplaces-or in instances where the track is slippery, and in the latter case avoids the use of sand upon the rails.

In order that the wheel I may be adapted to propel the engine and train in either direction, its teeth and those of the rack may be ordinary gear-teeth or a second raek-bar or rail, 0, may be laid upon the ties and each placed at an equal distance to one side of the center of the track, the teethof the rack heing ratchetteeth and sloping in oppositedirections. With this arrangement the locomotive is adapted to operate with the toothed rack when going in either direction, provided it he not hacking; or, again, two toothed wheels may be applied to a locomotive, one in front of andone in rear of theaxle, if more power is found desirable, and these wheels and the tooth'dd racks, whether used singly or doubly, may replaced hetween the rails of the track or outsideef them.

In place of the sprockehwheels and chain before explained as a means of transmitting the rotation of the axle by means of the chain, ordinary spur-gears may he employed engaging an intermediate gear pivoted to the barb.

I claim- The combination, with the toothed Wheel mounted upon and connected with the 1000- In testimony whereof I aflix my signature motive by a' swinging beam or frame, as dein presence of two witnesses.

scribed, of the lifting-lever J and mechanism, substantially as described, operated by said lever, according to the direction of its movement, to throw into and out of action the power-driven devices by which the said wheel is rotated, as hereinbefore set forth.

JOHN HOWE, JR.

Witnesses:

F. CURTIS, v CHARLES J. BROTHERS. 

